The One Where the Blog Campers meet in London
Posted under People I love
Despite the combined efforts of a vomiting bug, a queried broken leg and the combined forces of National Express rail and my inability to keep hold of vital travel documents for 5 minutes….I made it to London yesterday to meet with seasoned Blog Campers Bee and Blanca. Getting home again was a whole other story however which I will save for a different post on Family Spud’s Famous Travel Disasters.
I will just open brackets here to mention that there has been some kind of travel disaster associated with each of the 3 Blog Camps I’ve attended. The car park M25 did for me for Blog Camp 1.5 and I was 2 hours late arriving for lunch at Bee’s house. Blog Camp 2.0 was worse…8 hours late due to my inability to pack my bag in time for a stupid o’clock flight. Blog Camp 3.0 was better. I arrived on time, but left too early having misread my flight information. And then Blog Camp mini-meet brought all kinds of travel nonsense and ridiculous expense which I can’t even be bothered to talk about. Closes brackets.
I knew I was in for a joyous day when Blanca’s opening gambit was, ‘I’ve got a confession to make. But you can’t tell anyone!’. Secrets? Gossip? Confessions? And it was only 11.00am….bring…it…on…
Blanca unburdens herself of her secrets
We didn’t ‘achieve’ much. We went to Starbucks (natch), we battled with the tube to High Street Ken, walked in the sunshine in Hyde Park for hours, took a few photos, went to lunch, went for a Snog (more later), walked some more in the park and then it was time to go home. Not much activity really, instead we invested our energy in talking. Should you feel the world is missing a couple of million words today it’s because we used them all up yesterday. Sorry about that.
Books, films, families, husbands, sons, daughters, fiances, weddings, honeymoons, babies, blogging, bloggers, photography, food, the weather, cooking, secrets, secrets, secrets, holidays, work, sleep….nothing was off our agenda yesterday. We took a breather for a now traditional bloggers jump…oh look, all TWO of them off the ground at the same time. Result…
Things I learnt:
- Despite having lived in London for 17 years, I don’t know the way from High Street Ken to Hyde Park without using a map. What’s that about? I spent huge periods of that 17 years living around there. Embarrassing.
- I am so pleased the stress and hassle of planning a wedding is over for me. I’ve done it twice. That’s at least once too many. Poor Blanca! No wonder she was rather weary.
- Bee should probably have an eye test….
- There are so many people in London. I was quite overwhelmed with how many people were out and about, in the streets, in the park, in the restaurant. In a short year I’ve turned in to a country bumpkin with a touch of claustrophobia.
- I am totally intolerant of other people’s small children kicking off in restaurants, despite being the mother of small children. Wrong and bad of me.
- Blanca has a life plan. Beth and I do not. Interesting.
- By common agreement, 26 is a bit too young to get married. At the time you feel all grown up, but the 20s are all about change.
- We all miss being bored. Having huge, vast stretches of time with nothing to do, nowhere to go, no chores to do…just lying around reading books, or just being bored.
Blanca wanted to go for a Snog and who were we to deny her? In fact we built the day’s geographic agenda around having a Snog. I had a chocolate mini-snog with strawberries, the others had a vanilla with, erm, stuff. Blanca enjoyed her Snog, Beth and I binned ours at the first opportunity having decided that a frozen yogurt dessert that ‘lacks fat, shuns sugar and has hardly any calories’ tastes revolting. What can I say? Me and Bee are in the environs of 40 years old…..Blanca is, what, about 17 or something? She likes Snogs, we like The Archers. It’s a generational thing…
When I (eventually) got home I was tucking in a sleeping Bertie when he briefly woke and whispered, “Did you have a lovely time with your friends?”…”Yes” I whispered back, “I had a brilliant day, thank you.” I said…”That’s nice!”, he said. And it was. xx
Awww, your conversation with Bertie sounds like something straight out of Winnie the Pooh. I can hear your lilting voice all the way across the pond and over the mountains. I like it. It does sound like a lovely day with friends and an exciting travel adventure too.
Scarfs, hats, big wintercoats, sunglasses and camera’s. Forgot something, happy faces. Bloggirls on the roll.
Good to see you again even if it is just in a picture.
xoxo Elizabeth
um… ok… Shouldn’t the fact that something that should be eaten and yet is called snog (somewhat close to sounding like “snot”) be a very red waving flag as to its lack of yumminess? Not to be derisive… Just saying. I think I may have “binned” mine as well, Spud. Stick to good old fashioned ice cream!
so much happiness pouring out of those photographs!
Oh, yes, I’m mysterious like that… so many secrets! 17? Now that would be a VERY young age to marry! You managed to summarize our conversation very well, but I’ll say it again, I love me a snog! :) So, so lovely to see you, despite the wedding related weariness! Next time, I’ll tell you about the good things, though! And many more secrets!
Despite the fun you had, to me the highlight sounded like your angelic B’s caring question whilst half asleep. Though, its not long before he asks whether you “got snarled in the travel system again?” Enjoy the brief period of untouched innocence. :-) Disappointed that you use age to account for your lack of enthusiasm on the Snog front, shame on you! Also – trying very hard to add an Avatar to this comment but have no idea how… you should allow us to login using our twitter ID’s.
Its amazing how the sun makes these photos stand out! (also testing whether my new Gravatar works?)
What a wonderful time you had!
Oh yes, the 20′s are all about change. I am very much looking forward to my 30′s!
sounds like one great day :) love your hat.
That Bertie boy – so precious!
sounds like a fun time was had :) and i’m with you on the other kids in restaurants stuff…i have no patience for that…bad me he-he
Come on ladies, what beautiful eyes are you hiding behind those sunglasses?!
I just realized that I have a very silly grin on my face. I’m trying to think of something you didn’t cover, but no — I think you got it all.
I AM rather impressed that Blanca and I managed to take flight simultaneously . . . not to mention your quick clicking finger. Doesn’t everything look fantastic with that bright blue background? Sorry, Adrian, but these winter-weary eyes (yes, I do need glassed) were completely dazzled by the sun.
Awww looks like a super time had by all. I have been thinking a lot about not being so harried lately too, I wanna just be!!!
I love the little convo with Bertie… soooo sweet!!!! The pics are fabulous!!! you are a lucky lass for sure!!!
Isn’t a sanitised snog a contradiction-in-terms? Dear God I must be 55 if I’m a day….
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Nice reference to the “Friends” titularity in your title. Mind you, if *I* ‘got’ it, you may be in trouble….